On 29 March 2024, Liam McArthur, MSP, announced his ‘Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill’ to the Scottish Parliament. This will now be debated and scrutinised by the Parliament. If passed, it would mean the legalisation of doctor-assisted suicide for those with an advanced illness who choose it, within the Scottish NHS. The key features of the Bill would mean that a ‘terminally ill’ patient of 16 years and above, with mental capacity, registered with a Scottish GP, and resident in Scotland for one year, will be eligible. Terminal illness is defined remarkably broadly as ..read more

There are times when you see a confluence of evils merging from afar, but they merge so slowly that most people remain totally unaware of them, or if they are they just shrug their shoulders and move on. I first wrote about my concerns over organ donation from those requesting euthanasia (ODfE) in 2017 when Belgium was at the time pioneering the practice. Belgium has now, unsurprisingly, been overtaken by Canada which ensured, right from the introduction of their ‘medical assistance in dying’ (MAID) legislation, that the opportunity of organ donation was embedded in the process. National repor ..read more

Until a decade ago, I was a medic struggling through the NHS quagmire. So, when I had the opportunity to join the CMF Junior Doctors Conference back in November 2023, I prepared myself to meet lots of doctors now near drowning in the thickening muck. In the end, although I did hear of struggles, I was encouraged to find nearly 200 doctors still rejoicing in and doing their best to follow Christ’s call to be his followers in healthcare. Throughout the weekend, in between the usual slightly bonkers ‘medic chat’ one inevitable, unavoidable topic kept raising its head: doctors’ strikes. We’re now ..read more

Firstly, let me say that I cannot even begin to imagine the grief the families involved in this case must have gone through these last eight years and are still going through. The atrocities committed by Lucy Letby are chilling and deeply distressing. Honestly, it doesn’t seem enough to say that my ‘thoughts and prayers’ are with them, as that phrase often sounds trite coming from the mouths of politicians. And the truth is that I’m struggling to find the words to pray in the face of this, but find reassurance in Romans 8:26, ‘In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not kn ..read more

The first UK ‘womb transplant’, carried out by Richard Smith’s team in Oxford and announced at the end of August, understandably gained a lot of press coverage and was heralded by some as the ‘dawn of a new era’. In fact, the first uterus transplant was carried out in 2000 in Saudi Arabia in a 26-year-old woman who had to have the cadaveric transplant removed due to thrombosis 99 days later. Others have questioned how that particular procedure ever got through an ethics committee. One of my lawyer colleagues remarked how little comment there has been, if any, about the ethical aspects of this ..read more

The tragic loss of life and heartache caused by Lucy Letby is beyond imagination. Our hearts go out to all those affected. Undoubtedly, mistakes were made that look even worse with the power and accuracy of the ‘retrospectoscope’. Patient safety was not put first, nor was the dogged pursuit of the truth of what happened in each case. It seems these were trumped by reputational concerns and a desire not to upset the feelings of the individual involved. The precautionary principle was not applied. However, I find the official NHS response disingenuous. There are good whistle-blowing policies in ..read more

This is such a deeply disturbing case. One of the most horrifying scandals to ever hit the NHS. A neonatal nurse killed seven babies and attempted to murder six more. The perpetrator being a nurse is causing our nurse and midwife members, and us in the CMF Nurses & Midwives team, real grief. First, we’d like to start by extending our heartfelt sympathy and compassion to the families involved. I myself (Pippa) have had personal experience of two of my own babies being born extremely prematurely and having months on neonatal units. I know first-hand how helpless and vulnerable you already fe ..read more

On 1 August 1983, my life changed forever. I started work in the NHS. I lost all that I had known of normal life and have spent the last 40 years working in a broken system. I am in no doubt it needs fixing. Navigating endless demands with inadequate resources has been costly. From the birth of my son to the death of my mother, the NHS took priority. I understand the outrage and frustration we are feeling in the NHS. Yes, things need to change. Big time. But will a strike work? And is this something Jesus asks me to do? I’m conflicted. The Scriptures get me thinking. ‘Don’t be selfish; don’t ..read more

The sentencing of a woman for two years imprisonment for performing a home abortion with pills obtained via a phone consultation raises lots of questions. However, the main question asked in an almost universal chorus of headlines was why are our ‘archaic’ and ‘unfair’ abortion laws still in place? ‘A woman has been jailed for 2 years for having an illegal abortion – how on earth is that fair?’, ‘The tragic case shining a light on the UK’s archaic abortion laws’ and ‘MPs told to overhaul Victorian abortion law used to jail mother-of-three’, and many others all illustrate the complete capture o ..read more

For a prospect anticipated for almost 20 years, the announcement in a Guardian exclusive of the successful birth of one or more babies from one or other technique of what is usually termed mitochondrial donation therapy (MDT) had a more muted reception the following day than might have been predicted. It came second after the Eurovision song contest in the morning BBC news bulletin. There was actually no story about it at all, following a lengthy piece on the showbiz goings on in Liverpool. Many articles commented on the paucity of details provided, and I was not alone in feeling that the Guar ..read more